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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Steampunk Bracelets

My friends and I attended a Steampunk Jewelry class a few weeks ago and boy, did I learn a lot (about Jewelry making AND Steampunk). The basic premise of Steampunk is based on the Victorian era, but with fantastic or advanced technology. Individuals that enjoy Steampunk wear often choose to modify their clothing, wearing Victorian-inspired outfits. These can be very elaborate, or they can be simple, with only a few subtle touches to make them stand out. Below is the piece our instruction gave us that was the basis for the bracelet we created.

The most popular Steampunk motif is the gear, symbolic of industry. Watch faces and clock hands are also popular because of their connection with clockwork.﻿﻿

﻿﻿Each bracelet had two pieces of chain on either side to hold it together. I never really thought about it but did you know that there are people that make their own metal chain. It's very labor intensive, but they DO it. Who Knew?﻿﻿﻿ ﻿﻿﻿

Our instructor (on the right) was an old pro at these thing and made it look SO easy. It takes a lot of dexterity to make jewelry. Plus, I think my fingernails were a hindrance. LOL!

One of our classmates (Monica Johnson) made her own steampunk type necklace and sells them on Etsy. Check her out at: www.vintageindisguise.com

Here's Reed, softly hammering the wheels in place. It takes a gentle touch, because the metal is much softer than we ever imagined.

And here we are modeling the finished product. Lovely, huh?

Steampunk can be expressed in many items besides jewelry. Above is a Steampunk Clock!

6 comments:

Susan, what a cool class to take with your buddies!! I admire your tenacity. I love knowing fellow bloggers nearby. We should arrange a meet to shop or take a class or go to a convention or something. :)

That looks like fun!! I haven't made anything steampunk yet but I think it is lots of fun. Google steampunk wedding some time. There was an amazing one that I wish I saved the link to. It had the most amazing steampunk cake.

How cute! I just saw your comment on my blog, thanks for stopping by! I love those bracelets, I need a steampumk ASAP! Love making new but vintage looking items out of 'junk', and being able to wear it is even better! Thanks for the idea, I will be on the look out for one of those!